Earth-Romulan War
The Earth-Romulan War was a major interstellar conflict fought during the mid-22nd century between the forces of United Earth and those of the Romulan Star Empire, and their respective allies. The two sides knew little of each other before the war, and little after the war. Based on the limited state of knowledge that still existed in as late as 2266, the war was summarized as: "Earth believes the Romulans to be warlike, cruel, treacherous; and only the Romulans know what they think of Earth." Events depicted in Star Trek: Enterprise's fourth season leave open the possibility that the Romulans may well have had '''greater' knowledge of humans than humans did of them. Certainly their plan to turn the various races of the region against one another would require a fair amount of intelligence on each of them. In 2266, Spock categorized the weaponry generally used in the Earth-Romulan War as atomic in nature, and fairly primitive at that. He also characterized the ships in use as primitive, and designed in ways that did not permit quarter or captives. Romulan starships were painted to resemble a "bird of prey", a tradition kept through the mid-23rd century. Ship-to-ship visual communication between Earth-allied ships and Romulan-allied ships did not take place during the war or during the peace negotiations. Among the casualties during the course of the war include several members of the Stiles family, including one Captain Stiles. ( ) The Battle of Cheron is generally considered the decisive battle in the Earth-Romulan War. Both sides recognized the major victory achieved here by Earth as a humiliating defeat of the Romulan military. This event would establish long-term political effects within the Romulan Empire lasting well into the 24th century. ( ) :Two unspecified battles that have been referenced in the run of ''Star Trek, the battle at Galorndon Core and the Battle of Okardo, may or may not have been associated with this war. The timeframe from which these battles occurred is unclear, as is the enemy of the Romulans in each incident; nevertheless, it remains plausible that they may have occurred during this conflict, at a point prior to the Battle of Cheron.'' .]] Following the Battle of Cheron the two sides negotiated a treaty via subspace radio. Among other things, it established a Neutral Zone, entry into which by either side would constitute an act of war. Earth set up at least eight outpost stations on asteroids along its side of the Neutral Zone to monitor Romulan activity. :For several years it was believed that the Treaty of Algeron was the designation for the treaty resolving this war, but this was later disproven in TNG: "[[The Pegasus|The ''Pegasus]]". The unspecified Neutral Zone Treaty may also be the designation for the treaty as well, however, this too has yet to be proven.'' From a 23rd century Human perspective, the Neutral Zone represented an area "between planets Romulus and Remus and the rest of the galaxy..." Some Humans still harbored resentment over the war after over a century of peace, including Lt. Stiles of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise]]. Despite these human attitudes, until 2266 the Neutral Zone served its purpose and the treaty had remained unbroken. In fact, one might say it served its purpose too well, as there were limited or no contacts between Earth and the Romulan Star Empire from the conclusion of the war until the mid-23rd century. ( ) Background The details of the Earth-Romulan War are shrouded in mystery, and what little canonical evidence is available is often vague and open to speculation, beginning with the exact date (or dates) during which the war was fought. In "Balance of Terror", Spock notes that the Neutral Zone was "established by treaty after the Earth-Romulan conflict a century ago." This places the war, at minimum, during the 2160s, but certainly during the mid-22nd century. According to the behind-the-scenes newspaper clipping titled It's Federation Day!, which was among the collection found in the Picard family album from Star Trek Generations, dated "11 Oct. 2161," the war ended "a little more than a year" prior to the final declaration of peace and the foundation of the Federation. This source also states that the war ended with the Battle of Cheron in early 2160, which indicates that it probably started in the late 2150s, and certainly after 2155. Although this source has never appeared on screen, it is the most detailed account of the events of this era as produced by any member of the Star Trek production staff. An illegible viewscreen graphic seen in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" lists the conflict as beginning in 2156 and ending in 2160. However, this list was comprised from datapoints in an outdated version of the Star Trek Chronology and was not meant to be seen clearly on-screen. Contrary to the unseen article and the unreadable graphic, no other sources have indicated if this war occurred before or after the founding of the Federation. However, if the succinctly named "Earth-Romulan conflict" is any indication of the involved parties, then this would seem to imply that this event occurred before the foundation of the Federation, and was fought between Earth/Humans, the Romulans, and their respective allies; nothing so specific as the Federation or the Coalition of Planets. Some evidence indicates that Earth itself commenced the conflict, as Data remarked in "The Defector" that "in their long history of war, the Romulans have rarely attacked first... they prefer to test their enemy's resolve." In other words, Earth may have been provoked into acting first, either intentionally or possibly inadvertently. However, it should be noted that this comment has been contradicted on several occasions, beginning with the events that transpired in "Balance of Terror." The Star Trek: Enterprise series finale, "These Are the Voyages...," presents the formation of an alliance that in the words of Deanna Troi, "will lead to the founding of the Federation." It is unclear whether or not this "alliance" was the one spoken of between Earth and its allies during their opposition against the Romulans as Troi made no mention of the Earth-Romulan War itself. The non-canon Star Trek: Enterprise novel Last Full Measure suggests that the Earth-Romulan war began in 2156, some time after the incident with Terra Prime and ended in 2160. The novel also seems to suggest that the Federation was born from the conflict. An early concept for a proposed [[Star Trek XI#Previous Concept|eleventh Star Trek film]] would have revealed the beginnings of the Earth-Romulan War. However, this concept has since been scrapped. There are several points of ambiguity involved with this time period. For more information on those topics please visit the following links: cloaking device, Romulan Bird-of-Prey (22nd century) and Romulan Bird-of-Prey (23rd century). External Links *Conjectural peace treaty - reproduced from the Star Fleet Technical Manual *Another conjectural peace treaty at Star Trek Minutiae *A Report by Masao Okazaki at The Starfleet Museum - includes an extensive (non-canon) write-up of the Romulan War * - a discussion of warp drive and Romulan ships Category:Earth conflicts de:Irdisch-Romulanischer Krieg